The rather large "N" key that can be seen in this photo is the largest alphanumeric key on the keyboard and in going to type the "M" key you will occasionally find yourself hitting the "N" key. I have personally experienced some problems getting used to the size of some of the keys being larger than others: Moving on to the subject of keys, they are similarly placed to most of the old Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard. It isn't so much an issue but may affect the purchasing decision of some users who may want the flat keyboard effect with the curvature in the keys. I've taken this picture demonstrating the general advertised picture that you will see and it isn't immediately apparent about the raised curve. In fact, it may feel uncomfortable to start with because we have become so accustomed to the standard keyboard design. However, it is apparent almost immediately after you begin to use the product that it is more comfortable on the wrists. I am still getting used to it after using it for 3 days. It is surprisingly quite a high slope and takes some getting used to. I've taken a picture to demonstrate what I mean: The first shock you get when you open the box is that which is not really apparent from most advertised pictures.
The Natural Keyboard seemed the correct way to go. I actually brought 2 of them at work as I was starting to suffer the strain from constantly typing on my standard IBM/Lenovo keyboards. The Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000.
Right, this is my first review for a hardware product, so bare with me! n00b alert! :pĪnyway, on to the product at hand. It holds two AA batteries that can last about six months.Review - Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 The laser eye tracks across surfaces at 1000 dpi. We like the idea of both the keyboard and mouse in the 7000 being able to sync up together with the same USB receiver. The only differences we can spot with the ergonomic mouse included in the Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000 and the standalone Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 is the lighter shade of grey in the newer model, and the absence of the USB receiver found in the standalone version that gave us signal strength issues when obscured. The mouse was easy to grip and hold, but the extra weight added by two batteries will make it more of a challenge to pick up when putting it on the other side of the mouse pad. Given that there’s a more elevated shape to the mouse, there’s more distance between these buttons and the thumb, perhaps taking away the threat of accidental clicks. Above the thumb groove, yet closer to the left-click button, are two buttons of different length. The mouse’s sides are coated with a rubber-like surface for an added grip, while its rubber thumb scoop is softer and even sticky feeling for extra grip. This scroll wheel does not register detents when scrolling up and down, which is very useful in many games for cycling through inventory and just for that easy line-by-line scrolling. Your two fingers fall into place onto the right- and left-click buttons as though you were going to hurl a fastball, and in between these buttons is a four-way directional scroll wheel, capable of both horizontal and vertical scrolling. It’s funny that the mouse introduces this slight bend of the wrist, especially since the keyboard included in the Desktop 7000 strictly aligns the arm, wrist, and hand as straight as possible. This actually is the case, but we learned that one way to overcome this issue, if it does crop up, is to simply rest the wrist on a gel pad, or elevate it some other way to minimize this bend. One common annoyance was that its bulky shape forced the hand to reach higher to operate it, bending the wrist a bit more than a regular mouse requires. Given the mouse’s unusual shape, our experiences varied from person to person among those we asked to give it a try.